11:30 pm
Thursday 7 August 2008

Strangers,

Just a quick BL5 update here.


Let’s get this one right out front:

I believe this BL IIIII event to be the toughest rally TeamStrange has ever held—-and that’s saying something.

Let’s take the first two legs.

In essence, they’ve been a number of bonuses spread over legs of roughly 1000 miles each. Sounds simple enough, but understand that in its essence, you’re looking at two one day events back to back. Sprints if you will. From a long-distance riders perspective, it’s the anti-ride of what they’ve been thinking of, and harder to "get in the groove" of riding. A two+-day leg of an event is a far different ride than a one day, and the ability to self-adjust between the two is critical. A rider that can only do short or long will suffer when presented with the other. You’ll see more on this later

Eddie predicted that the first leg front runners will be in the 2500 to 3000 point range. Top rider Mike Phelps came in at 2989. add that to his 505 point sleep bonus and we had a leader within 6 points of the prediction.

The top 25 riders on leg one were within a 900 or so point spread.

Take the complexity of the event.
While most anyone putting on an LD event want to make it better, or more difficult, or whatever, it’s not just a throwing eleventy-kajillion bobuses at the routesheet. Any clown with a keyboard can do that, and then have to suffer with the consequesces of their own actions. With the TeamStrange Adam and Eddy duo, the magic comes from making a route as simple as possible, yet presented in a way that’s unbelievably challenging. Cerebral skills are repeatedly rewarded on TeamStrange events, and this one is no different.

There have been only 35 0r 40 bonuses on the first two legs of the rally. Far less that the riders expect, but in the words of Rick Miller—“amazing. How can you do so much with so little?”

The weather
After the shakedown leg 1, things really got interesting. Rain, rain, and more rain all ganged up on riders to put many of them through a hellacious night two. If it wasn’t raining, it was 90+ degrees in North Dakota. Fun.

The more or less straight shot from North Dakota was also close to being the “best” route. It was taken by many riders simply to just get to Albuquerque in the rain. Rider after rider was surprised to learn that the much bally-hooed “Casa Bonita” restaurant on South Park was in fact a real place. Mexican food with cliff-divers, gorillas, and the occasional cowboy shoot-out. Who could ask for more?

Leg two saw perennial BL rider and leg 1 leader Mike Phelps taken out of action, along with Minnesota 1000 Rally Master Bart Bakker and four time finisher Rick Snyder—the latter with mechanical issues.

I believe Derek Dickson is in 2nd place because he was hit with a huge lateness penalty at checkpoint two.

You'll know more as I can get time to report it,

D.

Bonuses to choose from on Leg 3 included:

A stop at the marker at the Louisiana Purchase survey initiation site,
four different Robert Johnson locales (an astute reader will be able to identify the likely spots), the Smokey & the Bandit inspired “East Bound and Down” bonus requiring riders to purchase Coors Beer in Texarkana, AR and deliver it to Atlanta in 24 hours (much to the delight of the recipient staff at BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta), and huge mother-of-all bonuses stop at John Ryan’s party in Long Valley, NJ anytime between 6pm and midnight on Saturday.

It’s the time in the rally for riders to stretch their legs. After receiving their rally packs Thursday night, the riders are on their own for three nights until reaching the scoring table in Raleigh, NC on Sunday morning. It’s when those charging for the front will make their intentions well known, and will likely surprise many of us with what they’ve achieved.

Other bonuses of note: Selma Alabama’s Edmund Pettis Bridge, the gravesite of the King of the Gypsies, the infamous Beer Can house at 222 Malone in Houston, and in a nod to the achievement to BL V rider Curt Gran—a visit to the very first Waffle House.

A strong rider is expected to conjure up a route of about 6,000 or so points. While it can be done, this writer sees the 3,410 point John Ryan stop as essential to making that happen the easiest, but there’s a catch. (There’s always a catch) and this one is simple: There isn’t any other bonus within 500 miles of John’s New Jersey locale. If a rider is going, they have to get everything else they can first, get to John’s, and then make the 500 mile dash down the coast to Raleigh, NC. The almost 1000 point East Bound and Down bonus would add nicely to the above route, it would mandate a rider being at BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta the minute they open before setting off on a 1300 mile, 25 hour run. And keep in mind this will be on day 5 of a multi-day event. Ouch.

An alternate high point route might be along the Texas-MS-AL-GA corridor. While this route might see roughly the same 6000 points, the stops are more numerous, but the rider will have more opportunities to cut the route short and head for the barn if necessary.

Rider after rider is coming to us making it absolutely clear how much they appreciate the multi day, multi-leg rally with checkpoints format.
In the words of one rider, “if a rally is just going to give us a meal and a route sheet and tell us to shove off and see you in a week, what’s the fun in that?, And why would it cost so damn much to enter? Maybe next time they could just email us the route sheet and a coupon for a free meal at Denny’s”. While I don’t foresee TeamStrange ever putting on an event that poorly done, it is some food for thought.

I personally think the riders enjoy seeing their BL rally masters suffering as much as they do in the scramble to keep the rally going and on-schedule. Eddie and David have both confirmed that they’re once again getting less sleep that most of the riders.

Update:
While the malady of mechanical failures in rallies is well known, we’re happy to report that only one mechanical failure that has taken a rider out of the event in Colorado.
Rick Snyder’s 200,000+ mile K-bike has suffered an “I dunno” type of problem. Why is it called... “I dunno”….? Obvious—He doesn’t know exactly what’s wrong. We know it’s in the clutch area. Or transmission. Or maybe the driveshaft. Somewhere in there, anyways. Unfortunately, the bike currently won’t go and Rick reports that two local BMW dealers report being unwilling or unable to get it in within a month, and the third (FootHills BMW) has informed him they won’t work on bikes that old.
At last contact, Rick was in a truck headed for home, with well-wishes for his fellow riders. I suspect we’ll see him at BL VI in 2010.

Has anyone ever met Jim Winterer and Bill Thweatt and realized just how nice of guys these two are? Definitely a couple of great additions to the event.

Checkpoint three opens at Ray Price H-D in Raleigh North Carolina in about 7 hours. We’ll pass along what unfolds.

D.

Note the many bonuses Paris or Decatur related.
This has been happening all through the event.
The riders are required to hit at least one Paris or Decatur bonus on each route sheet.




1) Decatur, MS 290 points 24 hours

Super Secret Celebrity Site #15.
From Hwy 15 at the major intersection with stoplight by Shell & Chevron:
Go west on Broad St for 1 block to 4th.
On the left side is Newton County Courthouse.
A historical marker is in front of the courthouse
Who is the historical marker of?

Decatur is about 60 miles east of Jackson in central MS.
_____________________________________________________________________________

2) Sanderson, TX 280 points 24 hours

At the corner of US Hwy 90 and 3rd street is the Visitor Center.
In the small rock garden to the west of the Visitor are various displays.
According to the display, how far is it to Paris?

Sanderson is on US Hwy 90 in western TX, about 65 miles south of Ft. Stockton.
_____________________________________________________________________________

3) Decatur, GA 390 points 24 hours

Home of Lurleen’s Mecca – the very first Waffle House opened here in 1955.
The building is currently being renovated as a Waffle House Museum but isn’t open yet. Take a photo of the retro Waffle House sign out front.

Special Note – Many of you may remember Curt Gran’s infamous Waffle House debacle in Butt Lite IV. To make Curt feel better, for every point riders earn at this bonus, Curt will receive 10. No need to worry though, Curt isn’t even entered in this year’s rally.

From I-285, exit 41 – Memorial Drive, GA Hwy. 10
Go west on Memorial Drive .3 miles
Turn right on GA Hwy. 10 West (Mountain Rd.)
Go .5 miles, turn right on Covington Hwy. (aka GA Hwy. 10 West & US Hwy. 278 West)
Go 1.3 miles to 2719 E. College Ave on left (Covington Hwy. changes names to E. College Ave.)

Decatur is about 5 miles east of Atlanta.
_____________________________________________________________________________


5) Paris, TX 316 points 24 hours

Super Secret Celebrity #16

We heard about this guy because John Wayne played him in a movie.
Now, well….no one really seems to recall what he was famous for.

Take a photo of the marker for this celebrity’s grave.

From US Hwy 82-Business on the west side of Paris:
Proceed east into the city to 19th Street.
Turn right on 19th, and proceed 5 blocks to W. Washington St.
Left on Washington to the small park by the railroad tracks.
The marker is in that park.

Paris is located at the intersection of US Hwy 82 and US Hwy 271 northeastern TX.
_____________________________________________________________________________

6) Long Valley, NJ 3,410 points 6pm – 11:59pm Saturday EF

Super Secret Celebrity Site #22

Stop in, visit for a few minutes, and have your photo taken with celebrity #22.

<private residence--details omitted>

Long Valley is in north-central NJ—midway between Allentown, PA and Newark, NJ.
_____________________________________________________________________________

7) San Antonio, TX 1,214 points 24 hours
Legendary Bluesman Robert Johnson only had two recording sessions during his career. One of them was in San Antonio’s Gunter Hotel.

Take a photo of the Robert Johnson display near the main lobby of the hotel.

From I-37 South:
Take exit 141 A onto East Commerce.
Go 0.6 miles and turn right on Soledad (first turn once over the river).
Proceed one block and turn right on Houston St.
Proceed to the intersection of Houston St. and St. Mary’s.
The Gunter Hotel is on the corner at 205 E. Houston..

San Antonio is at the intersection of I-10 and I-35 in south-central TX

___________________________________________________________________________

8) Memphis, TN 308 points 6am to midnight
Super Secret Celebrity Site #17

Take a photo of the statue in the park.

From I-40 west at exit 1A:
Exit 1A turns into 2nd St heading south.
Follow this 0.9 miles to Beale Street
You will have to find a spot to park as Beale St. is closed to vehicle traffic. (or find a way around the block to get closer to the park—before you park.)
Proceed east on Beale Street a short distance to the entrance to the park on the left (off Beale Street between 3rd St. and Rufus Thomas Blvd).

The statue is immediately inside the entrance to the park.

Memphis is on I-40 on the western side of TN—it’s near the TN-AR border.
_____________________________________________________________________________

10) Peculiar, MO 505.05 points 24 hours

In Peace Park (near the wooden Peace Park sign) is a small white marker.
According to the white marker, who are Peace Park and Peace Park Walkway dedicated to?

From US 71 in Peculiar, follow Hwy C/J south/west for 0.6 miles to Peace Park at the intersection of Hwy C, Main St. and South Street.

Peculiar is on US Hwy 71 in western MO, about 30 miles south of Kansas City.
_____________________________________________________________________________

11) Brinkley, AR 961 points 6:00am-9:00pm
Take a photo of the marker where all surveys of the property acquired through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 initiated.

From I-40 at Brinkley
Follow US Hwy. 49 south for 21 miles.
Follow the signs and turn left on Hwy 362 for two miles to the park.

From the parking lot, follow the board walk to the granite monument that marks the location.
Brinkley is located on I-40 in eastern AR.

____________________________________________________________________________

13) Institute, NC 311 points 24 hours
Take a photo of the general store.

Institute is in eastern NC, about 60 miles northwest of New Bern.

<<Has anyone ever met Jim Winterer and Bill Thweatt and realized just how nice of guys these two are? Definitely a couple of great additions to the event.>>

Not true, not true. Once I called Eddie a bad name. My imaginary friend called him that too. I'm not sure if that counts as two for me, or just one.

I called him that even before sending him to rally master nirvana when I turned in the wrong "bat" picture on the last leg.

When I first got to the final checkpoint I wasn't going to turn in the bat picture and claim the points on the bonus sheet simply to deny him the pleasure of deducting them from my score (a good idea first conceived by Mr. Thweatt), but then just before we scored he said the rally organizers felt so bad abut the bat bonus that they'd give us the points for either the baseball bat or the furry bat.

So then I wasn't sure. I didn't really believe him, but I turned in the picture and claimed the points just to be on the safe side. And then of course they were denied at the scoring table. I think this gave him double, or possibly triple the pleasure of denying me the points.

It was all fair though. It was probably the best fair trick anyone ever has played on me. It was brilliant. In fact, this entire rally was brilliant. It was like a Beethoven symphony, or a great novel, or a timeless marble statue or a priceless oil painting, only expressed in the form of a seven-day long-distance rally.

These are not widely considered art forms, and almost certainly they never will be, but I would say they are, nonetheless. They will stand the test of time, and I am grateful to not have just read the rally sheets, but to have gotten into them, to have experienced them as they were meant to be experienced, both the great heartaches and the great joys.

Having said that, of course, does not change the fact that Eddie is still a fucker.

Jim

So what's a bobuses and how many is eleventy-kajillion?

Can't wait for even more info!!!

Wiktionary is your friend.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kajillion

I like the synonyms (squillion?..).

And...

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eleventy

So how's the digital photo bonus scoring going?

For me digital scoring has been a breeze.

It just got a lot easier:

Spent last nights rest bonus time and the safe chance to make the checkpoint double and triple back tracking 115 miles (by bumming cash at stations) to retrieve my "Rally Sack" that jettisoned itself south of Greenville, GA.

80,000 pounds pancaked all the electronics except the mag strip on the credit card.

Thankfully that works so my route decision today is to terrorize the the edges of the tires on Deals Gap. That should straighten them out...after my Raleigh fuel receipt... CU in Decatur if all goes as planned cause I'm still in it to win it!

P.S. Hasus is throughly enjoying the ride and just keeps nodding his head.

This whole leaving the wallet behind deal? Isn't this what held you up on the Great River Gravel Ride?

Remember to only practice the good habits!

Good to know you'll be ok if it rains or freezes!

I have read a lot of funny stuff on this board. I have also read about people spitting up coffee on their equipment whilst reading said funny stuff, and, I know mostly that is a figure of speech. Wow that was really funny I think I spit up a little.

But for the most part I think it usually is just that. A figure of speech.


Now



Jim Winter using the "F" word.



Tell me truthfully THAT didn't make you hurl coffee.


I mean really.

mk

"Tell me truthfully THAT didn't make you hurl coffee."





I'm sure it would have... and prolly SHOULD have... but I was too busy nodding in agreement.

Mike,

It is way too bad you couldn't have been there for another classic spider swamp bonus. You would have loved it.

This time, we had to walk down a boardwalk through a swamp to find a stone marker that had something to do with the Louisianna Purchase. It was as good as the spider swamp you loved so much from BL3. Unfortunately, I cannot even tell you what STATE this place was in. Maybe Arkansas.

We were pushing the time envelope, and it was pretty much black when we started hiking down the board walk and into the swamp. Lots of insect noises and spider webs.

The bonus sheet said you could get the picture until 9 p.m., and for good reason. There's a gate on the entrance to the park and the sign on the gate said something like: Caution, this gate slams shut and locks automatically at 9 p.m. Any rally riders still inside the park at 9 p.m. will be trapped like rats and will have to stay in the park until the next morning, causing a certain DNF for the leg and losing all points and pretty much screwing you for the rest of the rally.

Bill Thweat and I got to the park around 8:25 p.m. or so and boy, did we hustle down that boardwalk. It was a tough picture to take, too, since the stone marker was out in the swamp, and you had to lay your flag on the railing of the boardwalk, and hope the shot turned out.

We did get out of there with about 10 mintues to spare, which made it a totally perfect bonus to get. We were flying all day to try and get this one by 9 p.m., so nailing it that close is always fun.

I wonder how many other spider swamp bonuses there are in this country. It would be great to put together "The Great Spider Swamp" tour. You could be the leader, Mike. This would be a great way to foster your tremendous love for dark and spidery swamps.

Jim